Statewide WV

Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Marshall Co Gas-Powered Electric Plant Gets WV Green Light
February 17, 2015February 17, 2015

A somewhat complicated plan to build a 549 megawatt electrical generating plant near Moundsville, WV (for $615 million) that will be powered by Marcellus Shale gas has been making steady progress since last year (see Plan Advances to Build $615M Gas-Powered Electric Plant in WV). Marshall County voted to approve the plan, which includes a condition that the county accept the deed to the plant once its built in an arrangement to reduce potential property taxes on the facility (see Marshall County Votes to Accept Gas-Powered Electric Plant). Good news: the West Virginia Public Service Commission has issued a final order approving the siting certificate. The next step along the road is for the plant to get its financing (investors) lined up and then begin construction…
Read More “Marshall Co Gas-Powered Electric Plant Gets WV Green Light”
Earthquakes | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | Wastewater | West Virginia

EPA Sees Connection Between Some Injection Wells & Earthquakes
February 13, 2015February 13, 2015

On February 5th the Underground Injection Control National Technical Workgroup, part of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, released their final report on a potential link between wastewater injection wells (called Class II wells) and earthquakes. To which we say, we knew a probable connection existed three plus years ago. That’s the typical lag you get with when the federal government “investigates” something. The report is titled “Minimizing and Managing Potential Impacts of Injection-Induced Seismicity from Class II Disposal Wells: Practical Approaches” (the full 415-page copy is embedded below). The report says, in essence, while they can’t prove there’s connection between injection wells in some locations and earthquakes, the relationship is “undeniable.” MDN’s comment: What everyone acknowledges is that when you inject fluid into the earth over an active fault line, that fluid acts like grease and eventually the rock layers can, in RARE circumstances, slip and slide, causing a LOW LEVEL earthquake–typically so light no one feels it at the surface. The EPA study was based on cases from four states, two of them (OH & WV) in the Marcellus/Utica region…
Read More “EPA Sees Connection Between Some Injection Wells & Earthquakes”
Energy Companies | Southwestern Energy | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Southwestern’s Contrarian Plan: Double Down on Drilling in the Marcellus
February 12, 2015February 12, 2015

Southwestern Energy is one of the few exploration and production (E&P) companies that is bucking the trend. Most E&Ps are slashing their 2015 drilling budgets by a third or more. Not Southwestern. They recently closed on the purchase of a massive 413,000 Marcellus Shale acres, mostly in West Virginia, from Chesapeake Energy (see Chesapeake Using $1B from Southwestern Deal to Buy Back Stock). Southwestern paid $5.375 billion. Rather than pull back on spending, in December the company announced it would double its investment in drilling for the northeast (see Southwestern Energy on a Tear – Doubles Marcellus Budget for 2015). We picked up a few more details on Southwestern’s plans for 2015, which include drilling 70 wells in northern WV…
Read More “Southwestern’s Contrarian Plan: Double Down on Drilling in the Marcellus”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Southwestern Energy | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Gov Tomblin Signs “We Love You Southwestern” Bill into Law
February 5, 2015February 5, 2015

Last week MDN told you about the hurry-up-and-pass-it Senate Bill (SB) 280 in the West Virginia legislature. Southwestern Energy has just paid over $5 billion to acquire a bunch of land and drilling operations from Chesapeake Energy, most of it in WV (see Chesapeake Sells Close to 25% of Marcellus/Utica Operation). A new drilling law passed a few years ago stipulates if leases/operations change hands, the new owner must apply for permits to drill all over again, even if the previous owner had already been awarded those permits. The law threatened to shut down a number of drilling operations for new owner Southwestern. So the legislature passed a law “fixing” that problem–in record time. They then hustled it over to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s desk where, as we predicted, he was waiting with bells on to sign it…
Read More “WV Gov Tomblin Signs “We Love You Southwestern” Bill into Law”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Southwestern Energy | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Legislature Passes Bill to Help Southwestern Keep Drilling
January 29, 2015January 29, 2015

Currently in West Virginia, if an E&P company, say Chesapeake Energy, has applied for and received permits to drill dozens or hundreds of wells which are currently in various states of being drilled, and then decides to sell those leases and drilling operations to someone else, like Southwestern Energy, the drilling law passed a few years ago says the new company buying those leases and drilling operations must re-apply for all of those permits to continue drilling. That’s a big problem. Southwestern, you may recall, has just paid Chessy $5.375 BILLION for leases, wells and drilling operations–most of it in WV. Can you imagine what will happen? Rigs idled…people laid off…chaos and confusion. It’s an economic disaster. So you can understand why the WV legislature has dispensed with the rules and passed a bill in record time that fixes the problem, allowing Southwestern (or anyone else) to assume permits on leased property that changes hands…
Read More “WV Legislature Passes Bill to Help Southwestern Keep Drilling”
Allegheny County | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Pittsburgh Private Equity Fund Looks to Lease in Marcellus/Utica
January 28, 2015January 28, 2015

Not everyone is sitting on the sidelines during the downturn in shale drilling in the northeast. And yes, there is no doubt there’s been a downturn, along with the dropping price of gas (and oil). Ridgetop Capital, located in the Pittsburgh area, has just raised it’s sixth round of private investment capital (cash from wealthy people)–a huge $200 million. Ridgetop’s owner, Brad Carpenter, is now on the prowl to snap up Marcellus and Utica Shale leases that he hopes to get at a bargain because of the slow-down…
Read More “Pittsburgh Private Equity Fund Looks to Lease in Marcellus/Utica”
Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Randolph County | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

USFS Seeks Comment on Pipeline Survey in Monongahela Natl Forest
January 28, 2015January 28, 2015

Here on Pandora where the forests are sentient and can think and feel…oh wait, that’s in the movie Avatar and the sequel is not due out until the end of 2017 (drats!). We live on Mother Earth, not on Pandora. But you wouldn’t know it by the reaction of anti-drillers at the prospect of running Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline through 17 miles of the Monongahela National Forest. You’d swear the forest can actually feel it–and would experience a catastrophic wound in its very soul…
Read More “USFS Seeks Comment on Pipeline Survey in Monongahela Natl Forest”
Energy Companies | Equinor/Statoil | Gastar Exploration | Jay-Bee Oil & Gas | Lease & Royalty Payments | Marshall County | Noble Energy | Statewide WV | Triad Hunter | Tyler County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

More Bids to Drill Under WV State-Owned Land, Incl Ohio River
January 27, 2015January 27, 2015

West Virginia keeps up its aggressive push to lease and allow drilling under state-owned land–both under the Ohio River and under other tracts of state-owned land in prime Marcellus/Utica country. Last Friday the state Dept. of Commerce, responsible for overseeing the leasing program, opened its latest round of bids. Some of them are truly eye-popping. You may recall Antero Resources has paid $12,000 per acre (with 20% royalties) to drill under 518 acres of the Conaway Run Wildlife Management Area (see Record High Bid to Drill Under Bambi’s Home in Tyler County, WV). In the bids opened Friday, Jay Bee bid an even higher price to drill under the Jug Wildlife Management Area, also in Tyler County…
Read More “More Bids to Drill Under WV State-Owned Land, Incl Ohio River”
Industrywide Issues | Research | Statewide WV | West Virginia

MDN Exclusive: WV Horizontal Well Production Report w/Well Names
January 26, 2015January 26, 2015

The West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) requires annual reporting of production data–woefully out of step with both Ohio (quarterly reports) and Pennsylvania (monthly reports starting in March 2015). The WVDEP “requires” drillers to file reports by March of each year–but many wells did not list production data for 2013 until “recently”–in September 2014. What does the data show? Production varies widely depending on the geography. Below are some examples, along with the complete production report from 2013 for horizontal wells in WV, specially produced to show the well name (available only from MDN)…
Read More “MDN Exclusive: WV Horizontal Well Production Report w/Well Names”
Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Gov Earl Ray Tomblin Praises Marcellus Shale During Speech
January 21, 2015January 21, 2015

At Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s inauguration yesterday, Wolf didn’t even mention the word “Marcellus” and said nothing of shale drilling in the state beyond a vague statement about the state being “blessed with an abundance of natural resources” which includes “gas.” Compare Wolf’s total lack of acknowledgement of the Marcellus and the key role it plays in Pennsylvania with the West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s State of the State speech last week, a speech in which he positively gushes about the Marcellus, by name. Tomblin even treats two representatives from Southwestern Energy present in the audience as exalted guests, asking them to stand for applause (Southwestern has just invested $5 billion in WV). The kicker: both governors are Democrats. In part, here’s what Tomblin said last week in his annual speech to the state:
Read More “WV Gov Earl Ray Tomblin Praises Marcellus Shale During Speech”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide NY | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | Wastewater | West Virginia

Yet Another Duke University Study Smears the Marcellus Industry
January 15, 2015January 15, 2015

Let’s see, it’s a new month in a new year–must be time for a new Duke University study (located in North Carolina) to pop up smearing Marcellus Shale drilling (located in Pennsylvania and West Virginia). Yep, that’s just what’s happened. The new study, titled “Iodide, Bromide, and Ammonium in Hydraulic Fracturing and Oil and Gas Wastewaters: Environmental Implications” was published yesterday in the “peer reviewed” journal Environmental Science & Technology. Here’s all you need to know about this “study”: The lead author is a Duke University student (looking to make a name for herself), and it was funded by the virulently anti-drilling Park Foundation. Which means the outcome of the so-called “study” was written before the first test tube was held over a Bunsen burner…
Read More “Yet Another Duke University Study Smears the Marcellus Industry”
Air Quality | Health Impacts | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Research | Statewide WV | Wastewater | West Virginia

WVU Launches 5-Year Study of Local Frack Site for Air, Noise, H&S
January 13, 2015January 13, 2015

This is very cool. A West Virginia University professor, now interim chairman of WVU’s School of Public Health (Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences), is going to perform some REAL science. Dr. Michael McCawley is someone we’ve highlighted before. He’s done some excellent research on air quality near drill sites (see WVU Prof Keeps Up Pressure on Improved Air Quality at Drill Sites). Dr. McCawley is launching the Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory (MSEEL)–a project that will drill a test well and provide real-time air, noise, occupational safety and health monitoring over a five-year period. It is one of three such projects approved and funded (in part) by the U.S. Dept. of Energy…
Read More “WVU Launches 5-Year Study of Local Frack Site for Air, Noise, H&S”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Eureka Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Eureka Hunter Nears 1/2 Billion Cubic Feet per Day in WV/OH
January 8, 2015January 8, 2015

Magnum Hunter announced yesterday that its pipeline/midstream subsidiary Eureka Hunter has set a new record. Eureka pumped more than 400,000 million Btus per day (MMBtu/d) in West Virginia and Ohio by the end of December, and they expect to be pumping more than 500K MMBtus by the end of this month. A half million MMBtus works out to be roughly half a billion cubic feet of natural gas per day…
Read More “Eureka Hunter Nears 1/2 Billion Cubic Feet per Day in WV/OH”
Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Reminder: Enter to Win $25K Prize in Shale Gas Innovation Contest
January 8, 2015January 8, 2015

Attention small businesses, researchers and entrepreneurs in Pennsylvania or West Virginia. If you have a new product or service that serves the shale energy space, submit your application (FREE to enter!) for the Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center’s 4th Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest before the February 1, 2015 deadline. If you do, you’ll be in the running to receive a $25,000 prize. Four such prizes are awarded each year. What are you waiting for?! Details…
Read More “Reminder: Enter to Win $25K Prize in Shale Gas Innovation Contest”
Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Antero Resources Lays Off 250 Landmen, Blames Low Oil Prices
January 7, 2015January 7, 2015

Antero Resources said on Monday it will lay off more than 250 contract land brokers operating in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The layoffs will not affect any Antero employees–only contract workers (landmen and others) who work to get leases signed, sealed and delivered for future drilling. Antero blames the low price of oil, which causes the price they get for their Marcellus/Utica natural gas liquids to be low, which means they’ll stick to drilling on the half million plus acres they already have under lease…
Read More “Antero Resources Lays Off 250 Landmen, Blames Low Oil Prices”
Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Sees Slower Drilling, Crews Go Home for Winter
December 30, 2014December 30, 2014

According to an article today in the Logan (WV) Register-Herald, most fracking crews operating in the Mountain State have gone home for the winter with “don’t call us we’ll call you” instructions. Drilling rigs are idled in WV. Why? According to the article, because of the low-and-getting-lower commodity price of natural gas. While the WV economy is still booming, certain businesses, like restaurants and hotels, are taking a hit due to the absence of drilling activity. When will it improve again?…
Read More “WV Sees Slower Drilling, Crews Go Home for Winter”